At a Glance
- INBOX (April 19) was the most difficult Wordle puzzle in the US in 2025.
- Preply identified difficulty by tracking spikes in Google searches for “Wordle hint” nationwide and by state.
- The New York Times Year in Games recap provides personalized stats for Wordle, Connections, Spelling Bee, and Strands.
- Why it matters: Knowing which words challenged the most players helps you prepare for future puzzles and enjoy the game’s statistics.
Wordle fans can now see exactly which words kept them stumped in 2025, thanks to a data-driven analysis by Preply. The platform ranked difficulty using Google search spikes for “Wordle hint,” revealing a top-10 list that includes the notorious INBOX. Meanwhile, the New York Times’ Year in Games recap offers a comprehensive look at your personal performance across several popular word games.
Hardest Wordle Puzzles of 2025
Preply’s study examined every Wordle from January through November, looking for the largest relative increases in search interest for “Wordle hint.” The words that generated the biggest spikes were deemed the toughest. The resulting top-10 list highlights the most challenging puzzles of the year.
| Word | Date |
|---|---|
| INBOX | April 19 |
| EDIFY | June 6 |
| KEFIR | Aug 13 |
| KNELL | Aug 14 |
| LORIS | July 18 |
| QUOTA | March 30 |
| HAZEL | April 7 |
| IDIOM | May 30 |
| IMBUE | Aug 8 |
| GIZMO | Nov 11 |
Some words, like EDIFY (to instruct or improve) and KEFIR (a fermented milk drink), may have prompted extra searches, contributing to their high difficulty ratings. August 13-14 were especially tough, with two of the hardest puzzles falling on consecutive days.
Easiest Wordle Puzzles
In contrast, Preply also identified the easiest puzzles of 2025, based on the lowest search spikes. The top three are CHAIR (Sept 11), BLUNT (Sept 24), and SPORT (May 27).
NYT Year in Games Recap
The New York Times’ Year in Games recap mirrors Spotify Wrapped, offering personalized summaries for Wordle, Connections, Spelling Bee, and Strands.
For Wordle, it shows days solved, preferred play time, fastest puzzle, average guesses, and most common starter word.
Connections tracks flawless solves, the toughest puzzle (the all-symbol version), and first color category chosen.
Spelling Bee displays total words found, longest word, pangrams, and Genius level hits.
Strands records hint-free solves and longest streak.
The recap also reveals each player’s most-played game, with Connections often topping the list. Users can share their summaries, just like Spotify Wrapped.
Add News Of Fort Worth as a preferred Google source. For more coverage on puzzles, you can check out News Of Fort Worth‘s daily answers and hints for Wordle, The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands. And you can view our guide to the most popular letters to make your starter word as strong as possible.
Key Takeaways
- INBOX was the hardest Wordle puzzle of 2025.
- Preply used Google search spikes for “Wordle hint” to rank difficulty.
- The NYT Year in Games recap offers detailed stats across Wordle, Connections, Spelling Bee, and Strands.
Wordle players now have a clear view of the toughest words and can track their own performance across multiple word games.
